


Five Times Richard Cypher Takes Cara By Surprise (Or Five Times Cara Can't Decide Whether Richard Cypher is A Hero or An Idiot)

by Aurora



Category: Legend of the Seeker
Genre: Character Study, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-16
Updated: 2010-12-16
Packaged: 2017-10-13 17:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/139573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aurora/pseuds/Aurora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at The Seeker from Cara's point of view from the first moment she saw him and how he keeps proving himself totally unlike she expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Richard Cypher Takes Cara By Surprise (Or Five Times Cara Can't Decide Whether Richard Cypher is A Hero or An Idiot)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Froggimus Rex (Froggimus_Rex)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froggimus_Rex/gifts).



**People’s Palace – Almost Two Years Ago**

It was mid-afternoon when Cara walked into the People’s Palace, holding a long piece of chain connecting the bound hands of a group of prisoners transported from the temple she was in charge of. They had all been successfully broken, and now Lord Rahl could do whatever he wished with them. Another job well done. No less should’ve been expected from Mistress Cara.

She handed them over to the other Mord’Sith in the dungeons and was on her way out when she passed one of the training chambers. The sounds of the Agiel and a man’s painful groans drew her gaze instinctively into it, and the moment she caught sight of the prisoner, she did a double take.

 _Is that the Seeker?!_

Cara moved to the side so that the stone doorway partially obscured her as she observed the scene before her more closely. The man hanging by his wrists from the ceiling looked bruised and battered, but she would recognize him anywhere. His picture had been shown to every single one of Lord Rahl’s men and the Mord’Sith in all the temples, and Cara couldn’t believe that she would see him here of all places.

Captured, at last. And as her eyes slid to the blonde Mord’Sith currently training him, she couldn’t deny the stab of envy and distaste.

 _Denna._

 _She_ was the one who had successfully captured the Seeker? _She_ was the one in charge of breaking him? Why had Lord Rahl not asked Cara to undertake this task? Was she not the best Mord’Sith he had? How could he ever think that Denna would be the better person for the job?

Still seething, she watched as Denna told the Seeker that using his mind to escape the torture was pointless. That all his thoughts belonged to her. It was a standard training speech, one that Cara had heard used on herself all those years ago. Leave it to Denna to _not_ get creative even when she was training Lord Rahl’s biggest enemy. Here she had to chance to do all sorts of things she wouldn’t get to do with a normal prisoner, and she _still_ stuck to the protocol. Denna was predictable like that.

“If I touch you here with the Agiel, your heart will stop,” Denna was threatening now. “Now tell me, who were you with?”

The Seeker didn’t look the least bit scared. Instead, he fired back, “Rahl wants me alive, you said so yourself. If you kill me, imagine what he’d do to you.” And there was a certain smugness on his expression, a clear victory in his voice, that Cara was actually taken aback for a second.

 _Oh, Seeker. You’re quite the bold one, aren’t you?_

Cara turned around just when Denna proved that she wasn’t bluffing by jabbing her Agiel to the Seeker’s heart, just like she said she would.

 

***

 

“Cara,” Constance nodded to her as the other Mord’Sith passed her on the hallway. “I take it you’ve seen the Seeker.”

“I have indeed,” Cara answered flatly.

“I’m going to get a turn training him too,” Constance said smugly. Cara rolled her eyes as she turned her back on her.

“Congratulations.”

“He almost escaped earlier, you know,” Constance added in amusement, right when Cara was about to walk away. That caught Cara’s interest, and she glanced over her shoulder.

“Really? I would think a man who has been tortured to within an inch of his life wouldn’t have given the slightest trouble to the best Mord’Sith in Lord Rahl’s palace.”

Constance gave her an annoyed look. “We did contain him. Although, I must say, with that foolish chivalry of him, he had no chance anyway. He was too gullible for his own good.”

Cara faced her more fully now. “What do you mean?”

“One of our broken prisoners, Benedict, told him this sad story about how we’ve kidnapped his little girl. He shares the cell with the Seeker. So when the Seeker tried to escape, instead of running straight for the door, he waited around to make sure Benedict got to leave as well. Of course, the old man never even wanted to go anywhere. He’s loyal to Denna.”

Cara was completely dumbstruck now. “Are you telling me that he risked his freedom—his _life_ —for some old man he barely knew?” she asked incredulously.

Constance nodded. “That’s the Seeker for you.” She shrugged and continued to walk toward the training chamber where the Seeker was held.

Cara looked back at the Seeker one more time, realizing that he just kept surprising her. She wasn’t sure whether he was brave or foolish, whether he was a saint or an idiot, and when she caught his determined eyes for a split second, she figured maybe he was a little bit of both.

And for some reason it unsettled her, because it was always easier thinking that the Seeker was just a foolish idiot.

 

 

 **Somewhere in West Granthia – Fifty-Eight Years in the Future**

So focused was Cara on her task to kill the Seeker, that she’d failed to notice the complete absence of her sisters, and everyone else for that matter. She had foreseen Denna’s failure to break him, and now that Lord Rahl had finally given _her_ the task to eradicate him, she would not stop until it was completed. It wasn’t until he told her that Lord Rahl was dead that she gave pause, and even then she still doubted his seemingly insane ramblings until logic persisted that what he was saying might be right.

And when she discovered that every one of her sisters had been killed, it was the first time in a long time Cara felt such a deep grief. Deep enough to make tear ducts that had not been a necessary part of her body anymore since she became a Mord’Sith start working again. And even then she was still intent on killing the Seeker, until he proposed they worked together to bring down the new Master.

She’d thought he just didn’t want to have to fight her again then—since he clearly knew how easily she could kill him judging from the last time they’d battled—and yet for some reason that night when they were shivering so hard in the unforgiving wind she had perplexingly offered him physical pleasure.

It was the first time someone had rejected such a tempting offer.

Cara might have been sarcastic about it, mocking the Seeker about staying loyal to a woman who might have been dead for 30 years, but that night, long after the Seeker had fallen asleep, she’d crept out from under the thick blanket and got dressed.

She’d sat out in the open, enduring the chilly temperature in that cursed place, hoping it might clear her mind.

 _What am I doing?_

She was supposed to work with him just until they killed the Master. After that it was everyone for themselves again. This was a temporary alliance—necessary but temporary. And she might have agreed to work together with him, but she most certainly shouldn’t have been _seducing_ him.

It was this wretched place.

That and the fact that all her sisters—the only family she had—were dead. It had confused her greatly. This was what Cara was telling herself to make her feel better about her little slip. Her offer _was_ just about pleasure, but a Mord’Sith wasn’t supposed to offer pleasure to the _enemy_. Which the Seeker still was. She might need him right now but it was just a means to an end. He was a tool, and he was someone who would become her enemy again once this Master was dead. She was supposed to _kill_ him.

So why had she _kissed_ him instead?

 

***

 

Cara watched the Seeker dig up the boxes of Orden with a very peculiar feeling.

It was a feeling that made her stomach churn. There was something about this entire journey that didn’t feel right. She was feeling something deep within her that shouldn’t be there. She wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but she had this premonition that she might be making the wrong choice soon. That she would be making a grave mistake.

“You said we’d only be fighting on the same side until the Master’s dead,” the Seeker said.

“And?” Cara challenged him.

“If this works, he’ll be wiped from history. He’ll never be born. But if you go back to fighting on the side of his father, this could all happen all over again. You’ve _seen_ the legacy of Rahl. You’ve _seen_ what can happen if he wins. Ask yourself, is this really a future worth fighting for?”

Cara’s first instinct was to be strongly offended. She’d served Lord Rahl for years and had pledged ultimate loyalty to him. There was no better master to serve, and this was an unquestionable fact.

So why did the Seeker’s question unnerved her greatly?

 

***

 

When they were zapped back into the past, Cara still had her Agiel jabbed into the Seeker’s back, and for a moment it was as if no time had passed at all since she was here last. Then the Seeker turned to meet her eyes, and at that moment her entire resolve wavered. She remembered that unless she pulled back, she’d just get propelled into the future again, and that was one thing that right now—in this moment of confusion and uncertainty—she knew for sure she did _not_ want to happen again.

And so she stepped back.

To save herself from the horrible future she’d witnessed, she told herself.

But when Alina, seeing what she’d done, decided to step in and continue attacking, Cara did what she did next without thinking.

She attacked her own sister, stopping her from touching her Agiel to the Seeker. This affected the next chain of events greatly.

Darken Rahl arrived and tried to divide the boxes of Orden himself using the Sword of Truth. To everyone’s astonishment, it killed him instead. It wasn’t until the explosion stopped raining debris on them and the Lord Rahl’s singed body fell back to the earth that Cara realized exactly what she’d done.

She’d caused this. She was responsible for this, and by _this_ it meant Lord Rahl’s death and the Seeker’s victory.

And yet when she finally regained her composure enough to announce to everyone that she did what she did to save them all, and that they should follow her orders now, she felt no remorse.

And when she told the Seeker they would meet again sometime in the future, she kept waiting for that feeling she’d dreaded would come. The feeling that she was making the wrong choice, a grave mistake.

It never came.

 

 

 **Outside the Temple of Jandralyn – One Year Ago**

Cara lay in the gully, battered and bloodied.

 _Treacherous bitches!_

How could her own sisters betray her like this and follow _Triana_ , of all people? What could she have possibly told the others to convince them to plead their allegiance to her? They all had seen how Cara had humiliated her in front of everyone else. She had declared herself their new leader and shown her capability to fulfill the position. She was the best Mord’Sith who had been entrusted with the most important task by Darken Rahl himself; to find and kill the Seeker.

Was that why they’d all turned on her? Because instead of carrying her orders, she had caused Lord Rahl to be killed instead? But it wasn’t as if there was anything she could’ve done differently, was there? They’d arrived late. By the time the power of Orden and Confession were mixed, there was no stopping it. She’d tried adding her Agiel in the mix and it just threw them all to the future.

That was when Cara started thinking that maybe she ought to have stayed in there. Kill the Seeker in the future and sacrifice herself for Lord Rahl’s victory. So she would have to live in a nightmare world where she was the only living Mord’Sith left. But in the past, Lord Rahl would have won and the Seeker would have been no more. That was what a true Mord’Sith would have done, wasn’t it?

 _Am I no longer a true Mord’Sith?_

The notion bothered her greatly, and yet she couldn’t deny that something had changed within her ever since that night. Something that swayed her complete and utter devotion to Lord Rahl, enough that she didn’t feel any horror or grief over his death. Her sisters had been lost, but Cara had enjoyed serving no master anymore. She’d thought it was time the Mord’Sith became the one who ruled the territories. It was only fitting after all; they were the strongest and deadliest collective force in the Midlands.

Apparently her sisters didn’t like this idea as much as she did.

 _Ungrateful hags._

She heard the sound of footsteps approaching; many of them. Too weak to even bother looking up, Cara hoped they’d just think she was dead and leave her be, but no such luck. Strong arms turned her over and she squinted at the sun blinding her eyes. It was an army of D’Haran soldiers. Great. What could they possibly want with her now? Had Triana sent them to finish her off?

Not caring what was going to happen to her, she let them carry her with them. When they stopped, however, what she heard was a title she never expected to hear again.

“The Mord’Sith temple was abandoned, Lord Rahl.”

 _Lord Rahl?_

As she was tossed to the ground, Cara looked up at the last face she ever expected to see associated with that name.

The Seeker.

“Cara,” he said, looking as surprised as she was.

“Lord Rahl? You’ve certainly come up in the world.”

He didn’t seem too happy to see her, however, judging by how roughly he pulled her up and demanded to know where some children were. Cara told him she had no idea what he was talking about, until he said her sisters had taken some girls from Ehrengard.

 _What are they up to?_

“If any girls were taken, my sisters must have done it after they beat me and left me to die,” she said in annoyance.

“I’ll get the truth out of her,” the new voice that spoke up then sent chills along Cara’s back—an instinctive nature to know her enemy and despise them. _The Confessor_. She was extending her hand toward Cara’s neck, and even though Cara didn’t flinch, she knew what was coming was nothing less than certain death.

 _Death at the hands of a Confessor. How tragic._

It certainly wasn’t how she imagined her death would be. But to her surprise, the Seeker stopped her. He pulled the Confessor to the side and talked to her in a low voice. Cara didn’t need to hear them to know they were discussing whether to trust her or not. The strange feeling crept up upon her again; the mix between swaying loyalty and a strange fascination for the Seeker. Why was he even contemplating to spare her life? She still couldn’t figure out if he was kind to a fault or simply stupid.

“You’re going to help us find your sisters,” he told her finally, seemingly having convinced his Confessor to not kill her.

Hmm. If he wanted to use her, maybe he wasn’t that stupid after all.

 

***

 

Killing Triana was the revenge that she deserved. And it sure felt _good_ to stop her heart with her own Agiel. Justice was served now, and as she let Triana’s body fall to the ground, Cara suddenly realized she had no ties left to her old life. The master she served had died, she certainly had no place within her old family anymore, and now she found herself with nothing to live for.

Nothing to strive to. No one to serve. No purpose. What was a rogue Mord’Sith to do on her own? Not a single one of them ever had to ask that question. Not one of them had ever felt this strange freedom; the ability to decide what to do with their own future. The possibilities were endless, and it was overwhelming for someone who had spent nearly her entire life simply following orders to suddenly find herself as a master of her own choices. It was like a child who was suddenly thrust into the world to fend for herself with no warning, no preparation.

 _What am I supposed to do now?_

That was when she caught the Seeker’s gaze, staring at her from across the battlefield strewn with dead bodies of D’Harans and Mord’Sith, and something stirred within her. His gaze seemed to speak a thousand unspoken words. It was a mix of gratitude, surprise, curiosity, hope, and wariness. It told her that she wasn’t the only one finding this situation—Mord’Sith fighting side by side with the Seeker—absurd.

But she also felt a new sense of purpose filling her.

And she suddenly felt a little bit less lost.

 

***

 

It hadn’t been too much of a question. When Cara finally understood why those D’Haran soldiers called the Seeker the new Lord Rahl, and when he declared that he wasn’t going to claim his rightful throne in favor of finding the Stone of Tears, she had known exactly what she had to do without hesitation. It was like an epiphany, or maybe that was the only choice left for her, really. The only choice that would make her life worth it.

She had found her new Lord Rahl.

“If you’re foolish enough to turn down the throne of D’Hara, then you need me all the more,” she declared.

She’d expected the Seeker to say no. She’d expected him to turn her down. Yes, she had made the decision and knew it was the right one for her, but that didn’t mean she was sure he would go for it. In fact, the moment the words came out of her mouth, she realized any sane person wouldn’t have agreed to it.

But all the Seeker said was, “All right.”

And just like that, he’d surprised her, again.

 

 

 **The Valley of Echoes – A Few Months Ago**

Running for one’s life had never taken a more literal meaning. Cara felt desperation seeping into her as her legs brought her closer and closer to the source of the Shadow Water, almost certain that time was running out too fast.

 _We’ll never make it in time._

Richard was running beside her, the both of them having left Zedd and Kahlan behind to carry Thaddicus.

“What if we’re too late?” she shouted over the sound of their footsteps.

“Never pegged you for a pessimist, Cara,” Richard replied without slowing down his pace.

“I’m a realist!” she retorted in annoyance, even though the fear she was feeling was very real. Thaddicus had sacrificed himself for her. _Why? I’m not worth that much_. She couldn’t get her head around it. No one had ever died for her. Sure, as a Mord’Sith, she knew she was a very good asset, but she’d gotten so used to the idea of dying for someone else. That was part of her job back when she was serving Darken Rahl and it still was now. She would die for Richard, but she couldn’t fathom why anyone would die for her.

“I just don’t want to be responsible for his death,” she said, an uncharacteristic anguish in her voice. Richard looked surprised too as he turned to look at her. But both of them kept up the pace.

“We’ll make it, Cara. You can’t beat yourself up over this. It wasn’t your fault. He killed himself.”

“With my hands! Stupid old man! He should’ve just let me die.”

Richard gave her a fierce look. “Never say that, Cara. None of us would let you die if we can do anything about it, you know that.”

“Not if it means killing yourself! _You_ especially should never hurt yourself for me, you understand? I’m here to serve you.”

“Oh, when will you forget that nonsense? You are _not_ here to serve anyone. We’re a _team_ , Cara. Equals. Equally important. Get that through your thick skull already.”

Cara was so surprised by this that she halted, and if it wasn’t for Richard’s yanking her forward to continue, she would’ve remained rooted to the spot.

Team? Equal importance? What strange concepts the Seeker was introducing to her.

“So we’re not just running to save my life now so I could then save Thaddicus?” she asked uncertainly, able to see the Valley of Echoes looming in front of them now.

“No! I mean, that’s part of it, but we want to save your life too. Look, Cara, this might sound selfish and maybe even cruel, but in a way, I’m sort of glad Thaddicus bought us some time so that we can save you too.”

Cara’s jaw dropped open as she felt shocked for the second time in the span of a few minutes. “You’re _glad_ the old man killed himself?!”

“Not in that way! But because it means we can now save you both! I am not Darken Rahl, Cara. I’m not going to order you to die for me. I never will. I want you to live,” Richard insisted, and when she looked into his eyes, she realized she understood what he actually meant. It was a bit twisted if one really thought about it, but Thaddicus _did_ buy her more time, and this way both of them might just survive. Maybe the method had been horrific, but if she could save him in time… then his sacrifice wouldn’t have been for nothing.

She had to do this. For Thaddicus, and for Richard.

For the master who had ordered her to live.

 

 

 **The Pillars of Creation – Today**

It was over.

They had saved the world. Against all odds, they had beaten every single enemy that stood before them; Nicci, Darken Rahl, the Sisters of the Dark, The Keeper… And she, Cara, had had a hand in it. A Mord’Sith, who was broken and reformed to be a force to be reckoned with. A force that was supposed to bring forth destruction and horror.

 _She_ had helped saved the world.

And now apparently Richard and Kahlan had figured out some nonsense about how she would never be able to confess him since he’d already loved her too much or some sappy crap like that. Frankly that was too sweet for Cara’s taste, although she wasn’t surprised that it was how it turned out for them. It was just so _typical_.

Now they were walking slowly away from the Pillars of Creation, the weight of the world finally off their shoulder, and not in a rush to determine their next destination. Cara knew they had to, though, sooner or later. Unless another crisis sprouted up, Kahlan would likely want to go back to Aydindril, and maybe Richard would finally take up his throne in D’Hara now that he didn’t have a quest to save the world anymore. Zedd would probably retire somewhere with lots of food and old women to entertain him.

And what of her? Where was she going to go?

She didn’t want to bother the celebrating couple, or talk with Zedd, so she walked further ahead a couple of paces, needing the time alone to think. She had to figure out what she was going to do now. Knowing Richard, even if he went to the People’s Palace and rule from there, he would not want any Mord’Sith working for him. He hated the way they were made and their vicious cruelty. And even if he let them stick around and serve him, Cara didn’t feel like a part of them anymore to fit in among her old sisters once again.

No, she was no longer just a Mord’Sith. She’d become something else entirely. Something _unique_ , unseen and unknown up until that point.

She didn’t even know _what_ she was, exactly.

“Cara,” Richard’s voice surprised her, and when she looked up she saw that he’d caught up to her.

“What?” she asked in confusion, her eyes automatically scanning the horizon to see if there was any new threat coming.

“Why are you not back there with us?” he asked, nodding at Zedd and Kahlan, who were now walking side by side, laughing with relief.

“Uh, I don’t know, maybe I don’t want to intrude your little miracle romance?”

Richard laughed. “This is our victory. We should all celebrate it together. You shouldn’t be walking off alone.”

“I’m not walking off alone. I’m just walking a little ahead of your band of merry heroes.”

Richard looked at her with amusement. “You do realize you’re also one of the so-called heroes?”

Cara frowned. Her? A hero? What an absurd concept. She’d never considered herself a hero. It was way too noble for someone who had taken so many lives in cold blood. “Yeah, I think I’ll pass on the title.”

“You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself, you know. You _did_ help us save the world. Like it or not, you’re a hero too now.”

“If you call me a hero one more time I’m going to cut off your tongue and prove you wrong,” she growled.

Richard just laughed at her threat. How annoying. Had she gotten _that_ soft that now he could never take her seriously anymore? Had he forgotten how deadly she could be when she wanted to? As if on cue, the memory from earlier today flashed in her mind’s eye; her pulling back the arrow as she aimed for Kahlan’s retreating back, and the paralyzing fear that had stopped her from launching it. _Weak_. She _had_ become weak.

“Zedd told me what happened today with Kahlan,” Richard said as if reading her mind. Cara just walked on ahead without a word. “You may think being with us have changed you for the worse, Cara, but I know deep down you know that’s not true. Being a hero isn’t as bad as you think. We’re strong in our own way. It’s not just anger and pride that can give us strength. Love and kindness are actually even stronger than all that.”

“Oh for the Creator’s sake, spare me the sentimental lecture. I feel sick already,” Cara tried to wave Richard away, but he just looked even more amused. She knew he wasn’t just playing though—that he meant what he said—and that annoyed her even more. He truly believed what he was saying. The foolish Seeker with his insistence that good was a better weapon than evil. Logic-wise, it made no sense whatsoever. And yet Cara had seen it in play more times than she could count, and sometimes it was hard to keep resisting the idea.

But how could she—virtually a killing machine—ever truly embrace goodness? She wasn’t sure she was even capable of that. She certainly couldn’t erase her entire horrific past.

“I know you’ve had your world turned upside down ever since you joined us. But you can’t deny that you like this life better than your old one that was full of pain, blood, and death,” he continued.

Cara was silent, unable to challenge his words. The unsettling truth was that he might be right. She’d felt more at home, more a part of a family, with Richard, Kahlan, and Zedd than she ever did with her Mord’Sith sisters.

“It doesn’t matter,” she said stubbornly, refusing to look at him. “The world’s saved now. Unless there’s another crisis, you don’t need me anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I’m going to get out of your way and let you have your happily ever after as the new king or whatever,” she emphasized, as if talking to a five-year-old. Why was he so dense sometimes?

“You’re… going to leave?” Richard looked confused.

Cara looked at him as if he was stupid. “Yes, Richard, I’m going to leave.”

“Why?”

“Why?” she whirled on him with exasperation. “Because you don’t need me anymore, as I’ve said before! What is wrong with you?”

“Whoa, what is wrong with _you_? Just because I don’t need you anymore, doesn’t mean you have to _leave_.”

“It doesn’t?” Now it was her turn to be puzzled.

Richard shook his head. “Cara, I thought you’d have understood by now. We’re friends, aren’t we? You’re not just around all this time because I _need_ you. I want you to be around, and now that this is over, I want you to be around more than any other time.”

 _Friends_. Cara had said it herself to Kahlan; that she considered her to be a friend. But that was in a moment of weakness, when she was lacking oxygen and about to die. She was pretty sure she was delirious.

Richard saw her confusion and stopped, then put his hands on her shoulders. Although her first instinct was to shove him—no one got to touch her without her permission, _ever_ —she’d learned to suppress those instincts lately. “Cara, is it really so hard to understand? You’re an important part of my life now, as important as Zedd and Kahlan. Please don’t leave. This isn’t gratitude, or because I feel like I owe you for helping me all this time, or even a reward for your service. This is me being Richard, not the Seeker, not the Lord Rahl, just me, asking you, Cara, as you and not the Mord’Sith in you, to stay. Because you’re my friend and I don’t want to lose you.”

Cara was stunned speechless by this, and there was a certain warmth that crept into her heart and suddenly made her want to cry. Not in grief, but in happiness. A feeling that was a lot like when she witnessed the Nightwisp she’d rescued successfully giving birth. This time, the overwhelming beauty of friendship was threatening her with tears again. She immediately turned her head away and gently shrugged off Richard’s hands.

“Okay, fine. No need to get sappy with me,” she retorted, but Richard only grinned like a kid who’d just been told he was going to get exactly what he asked for. He seemed as if he was about to move in to embrace her, but Cara threw her hands up in alarm. “ _Don’t_ you dare try to hug me, I will break your arm, I swear.”

Richard just grinned wider and patted her shoulder instead, before he waved happily at Kahlan and Zedd, urging them to catch up.

As Cara looked at him one more time, she realized that she would still have to endure this foolish brave Seeker for a long time to come. Maybe even forever.

And she strangely found she was quite alright with that.


End file.
